Aloft Chicago Mag Mile — Hotel in Chicago

I have never in my life taken time out of my day to write a bad review. I haven’t even started my trip yet and I’m already upset with the overall experience of this establishment. I am deeply regretting not booking with my usual Hilton family and will stay loyal to them forever cause they would NEVER. I have traveled outside of them only when I had to or had trusted review from someone I know and took a leap with how fun and trendy this location looked. Oh do I feel deceived. I have stayed in shady run down motels that had better service and room quality than this place, a Marriott affiliate at that.

First when you pull up there is the TINIEST gap to pull your car up so you aren’t on the main st and an older gentlemen in a suit staring you down when you pull in offering no help, guidance, or answers. The valet was at least helpful in the end but immediately bombarded us when we pulled up and I told him I needed to check in and get my keys before we just start unloading our many bags and navigate the hotel to our reserved room. Then there was the initial entrance, to be quite frank I was APPALLED. I understand trendy and fun, that was the only reason I strayed from my usual this time around, but the music in the lobby was NAUSEATINGLY LOUD. I stood in line until being helped and this is where I actually became upset more than just annoyed. As I’m having to yell to the front desk clerk as if I’m in a night club or bar, she is giving me attitude for not being able to hear her and vise versa. I tried to make a joke about how loud it was and how frustrating that must be to sympathize and make light of the situation she literally rolled her eyes, loudly sighed, and handed me my keys. LIKE OKAY GIRL?

Now to get on with the actual quality of the room, again I am literally sick about the fact I have to stay here another night. If it wasn’t for me having my sister with me and the hassle that would create for HER on her birthday, I would have walked out as soon as I walked into what sounded and felt like a seedy hole in the wall dive bar with quite literally the rudest reception I have experienced anywhere. First it was hotter than actual hell when we arrived and took no joke over an hour for the air to kick in. The room felt muggy and stuffy the entire time leading up to that hour of relief, which again I have never experienced poor ventilation like this at any other hotel. Especially for how oddly small the room is. There is no shelving or closet to hang anything up. There is a singular bar hanging from a slab of wood with THREE hangers on it. This is consistent throughout the room of not having anywhere to put things. The bathroom has not a slab or a shelf in sight to put anything in, even in the shower. Clean or not, having to put all of my things on the floor or the back of the toilet is making me nauseous even thinking about it. There is no lock on the sliding bathroom door which is weird and I have also never experienced even in the shadiest of other hotels and motels. They give you ONE towel each for two adults and as I was told housekeeping only comes every other day. Meaning I’d have to track someone down to get extra amenities that should just come with a room provided for two adults for a singular night, let alone the fact that we booked two. This room is beyond small and claustrophobic and I am certain I’d feel the same if it were just me, let alone my sister is here with me too. The curtains have multiple stains all over them and it was the last thing I saw to top of this experience of mediocrity. It made me gag actually. I am beyond furious to the point my eye is twitching writing this.

I have been in all kinds of financial situations throughout my life & am fortunate that although this was a pretty penny, it didn’t break the bank for me. In my broker days, the price on top of the indecency of this place would have BROKE me. I’m shocked that it costs more than Hilton & genuinely thought the quality/experience overall would reflect that. I’m not just disappointed though, I am genuinely PISSED.

DO...

I used Hotwire to book hotel and read review after the fact. I contemplated canceling because the reviews were mostly negative, but couldn’t because it was non-refundable. I am glad I didn’t. We loved the hotel and I will address all of the complaints I read about. We stayed for 6 nights. We had 2 adults and 2 tweens. They gave me my Marriott points even though I booked with Hotwire. Staff–many of the comments were about how rude and unhelpful the staff were. We had a very pleasant experience. Everyone we chatted with was more than accommodating and polite. When we called for towels, TP, etc, we had it within 10 minutes. Check in was great, even though we were early (12:15pm). Every time we walked by the front desks, the staff were cheerful and happy to answer questions. Location–our Aloft was in the area called Streeterville. It was a few minutes to Michigan Ave. It was less than 15 min walk to shopping, Navy Pier, Ohio St Beach, lots of restaurants/coffee/grocery stores with a block or 2, very central for bus/subway. Cleanliness–this brand has a “modern” design with concrete walls and hard floors. I am VERY picky when it comes to cleanliness and it was fine. I did ask for a broom as I found we tracked in a lot of dirt and debris and with no carpet, it was very noticeable. There were cobwebs and dust in nooks and crannies, but I felt it was as clean as any other hotel I have stayed at recently. Sheets – they were very warm and typical to a mid-price hotel. Not silky, but not rough. They were very loud (when someone in the other bed moved around, you could hear them). Bed comfort – I found it very comfortable and true to a real queen sized bed. Air Conditioning – the rooms were warm, but we kept A/C at 69F and it was fine. Pillows – this was the 1 thing that was not great. The pillows were like under stuffed bean bags. I put 2 in one pillow case to help make them bearable. Phone – we never did get the phone in our room to work. It wouldn’t turn on, even when we received a call. But, we didn’t really need to use it. Room – was a good size, bigger than I expected in a big city. There was lots of storage for the 4 of us. Coffee Maker and small fridge. Coffee/tea/water. Blackout blind. Lots of charging locations. Bathroom was a good size and lots of supplies. TV had lots of channels. Pool – very small and shallow, but great view. Walls – people have complained about the walls, but they are raw concrete and that is the design of the building. Many complained about the noise and hearing neighbors, but the only time we heard other guests was if they were near our door in the hall, which I have found is typical in most hotels. Housekeeping – they came and “cleaned” every other day, which was just emptying garbages, refreshing towels. However, if we needed anything, it was brought to our room very quickly. Pets – this hotel does allow pets. For the most part, this didn’t bother us, except for one night when the dog down the hall barked for 3 hours straight. Lobby/Breakfast – The lobby has a self serve, grab n go food service. Free coffee/tea all day. There is a bar that opens up onto the sidewalk and there is entertainment. Lobby is very hip and fun looking. There is a robot that delivers to your room and hands out lollipops (the kids got a kick out of this).

I was going to post pics, but the ones on the website are better than mine and...

Not pet-friendly, not customer-friendly. Disgusting rooms.

I have been to this hotel many times. It used to be good, but now it's a horror show and a disgrace to the Marriot brand. In our last visit, my wife and I booked a room with a king-size bed and upon arrival, we were told they didn't have such rooms available. They tried to convince us that they were "upgrading" us to a room with two double beds -- which doesn't make any sense since we would either have to sleep separately each one in a different bed or together in a smaller bed. Of course, when you are holding 5 suitcases, a backpack, and your dog, tired from driving from another state, with a long line of people waiting behind you, and having nowhere else to stay, you feel pressured into accepting it, especially if you are naive enough to believe that they trying to fix the issue. That's the first mistake because they will use that against you.

The pet policy is draconian and includes rules such as forbidding you from leaving the pet alone in the hotel and asking you to let them charge your credit card for possible damages or cleaning even after you leave the hotel. The first defeats the purpose of booking a pet-friendly hotel as we cannot leave our dog in the room while having dinner. The second is absurd considering that pretty much everything is dirty, from the curtains to the carpet, the walls, the mirror in the bathroom, the bedsheet has holes and the couch has stains. Is there any guarantee that they won't charge me for some of those things and claim that it was caused by my dog? When we asked that, a staff member tried to convince us that they keep track of what is currently dirty and damaged, which is hilarious for several reasons but the two most prominent ones being: (a) that guarantees nothing, I do not trust their word and (b) why can't they clean and fix instead of keeping track? And by the way, we were not able to find this policy stated anywhere on their website.

The room was disgusting and they changed us to another one, which was equally disgusting. Staff members seemed to have an attitude problem and always had to make it very clear that we were bothering them. Apparently, asking for the room you booked or at least a clean one is too much of a request for the Aloft staff.

The experience was so disappointing that we just wanted to leave and asked to cancel the reservation, but they refused to waive the cancelation fee, even though they did not give us the room we booked, failed to inform us properly about the strict pet policy, and put us in dirty rooms. We asked to talk to the manager, and it became very clear why the staff acts the way they do since the manager seems to care about customers even less. She made absolutely no attempt at resolving the situation, barely looked at us and just said that it was not possible to waive the cancelation fee. Given how horrible and unacceptable the situation was, we left anyway. So this is the summary of our trip to Chicago: $100 to drive for hours and visit a rundown hotel, get mistreated by its incompetent staff,...